5 year housing land supply
According to the definition in the National Planning Policy Framework and associated guidance, the 5 year land supply is a supply of specific deliverable sites sufficient to provide 5 years of housing (and appropriate buffer). This is against a housing requirement set out in adopted strategic policies, or against a local housing need figure, using the standard method.
Medway's 5 year housing land supply stands at 3.1 years.
Requirement
| Annual requirement | 1,636 dwellings |
|---|---|
| 5 year requirement (1 April 2025 to 31 March 2030) | 8,180 dwellings |
| Total requirement (with 20% buffer) | 9,816 dwellings (1,963 dwellings per year) |
Supply
| Large sites (sites with 5 or more dwellings) | 4,904 dwellings |
|---|---|
| Small sites (sites with under 5 dwellings) | 190 dwellings |
| Windfall allowance (131 per year in years 4 and 5) | 262 dwellings |
| Proposed Local Plan site allocations with planning permission granted since 31 March 2025 or resolution to approve | 803 dwellings |
| Total supply | 6,159 dwellings |
Results
| Years supply (in years) | 3.1 |
|---|---|
| Surplus or deficit | -3,657 dwellings |
Details of the specific sites which make up this land supply and the wider trajectory of delivery over the next 15 years are published in the 2025 Authority Monitoring Report (AMR).
We carry out an annual review to identify large permitted sites that are unlikely to come forward and if necessary move them out of the plan period phasing. This process should catch large sites that may lapse in future years.
There's no annual review of small sites, so some lapses are expected. Analysis of small sites over the past 10 years shows an average lapse rate of 17%. Applying this rate reduces the 229 permitted small dwellings to 190.